Question

I would like to find the second highest variable in an array.

For example if I have:

$cookies = array(
                "chocolate" => "20",
                "vanilla" => "14",
                "strawberry" => "18",
                "raspberry" => "19",
                "bluebery" => "29"
);

I can use max($cookies) to find the highest variable, which is "bluebery" => "29".

But how do I find the second highest? "chocolate" => "20"

Answer 1

Sort it and get the second item is the easiest way:

arsort($cookies);
$keys = array_keys($cookies);

echo $keys[1]; // chocolate
echo $cookies[$keys[1]]; // 20

If you want a more efficient way, you can also do it manually, by keeping track of both the highest and second-highest items at the same time:

function secondMax($arr) {
    $max = $second = 0;
    $maxKey = $secondKey = null;

    foreach($arr as $key => $value) {
        if($value > $max) {
            $second = $max;
            $secondKey = $maxKey;
            $max = $value;
            $maxKey = $key;
        } elseif($value > $second) {
            $second = $value;
            $secondKey = $key;
        }
    }

    return array($secondKey, $second);
}

Usage:

$second = secondMax($cookies);
echo "{$second[0]} => {$second[1]}"; // chocolate => 20